Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ASHLAND, OR. - The Simpson University women's volleyball team opened its 2023 season in the Southern Oregon Invitational. The first game of the day was against Vanguard University, which is receiving votes in the NAIA National Preseason Poll.

The Red Hawks battled the Lions tough but ultimately fell 3-1. Simpson took the first set 25-21 as they rallied from a 9-3 slow start. The second set was highly contested but resulted in a 27-25 loss. The Red Hawks were led by Mallory Swenson who registered 10 kills followed by newcomer Mariah Napolean with six. Senior Kayala Somontan played a key role as she distributed the ball with a team-leading 20 assists. Senior Katie Graham provided the roof in the middle of the net as she registered four blocks and five kills. 

Other key contributors included Tiana Nihipali who registered five kills and 18 digs while Madison Kammuller recorded 16 digs.

The second game of the day was against 2nd ranked Corban University. The Red Hawks battled and held their own but fell 3-0. 

The Red Hawks were led by Tiana Nihipali with seven kills on the game followed by Julia Zamfir with four. Sophomore Emilly Melo slid into the libero role in game two and logged a team-high 12 digs. While Kayla Somontan provided another quality game with 10 assists and four digs. 

The Red Hawks showed a strong showing to open the 2023 season and showed that they can hang with the best in the nation. 

Coach Mike Haworth was pleased with the play and fight shown by his girls. "We showed to ourselves that we can compete with teams of high quality. It was a good first week of playing as we could expect with so many new ones contributing. We realize the things we need to work on to take the step to the next level, Haworth said." 

The Red Hawks will travel down to the bay area to compete in the Menlo Invitational. They will play Southern Oregon and Menlo College on Aug. 24th and Warner Pacific University on Aug. 25th.